ROCHESTER— The city recently implemented a new emergency alert system that is much faster than its previous system.

The new system, CodeRED, can send emergency messages via telephone, text messages, and e-mail registered users in a certain area of the city or the entire city, with the ability to make 1,000 alert calls per minute. According to the Police Department website, the previous emergency alert system only used 10 phone lines to send out alerts, while the new system dedicated thousands of phone lines for the system's use in an emergency.

The system uses an Internet mapping feature, which allows calls to be sent to residents and businesses in a specific area of the city, depending on where an emergency is happening.

The system will be used to contact registered users in cases of fires, chemical spills, missing persons, evacuations, or other emergencies. The new system will also tell emergency personnel who in the city was not contacted through the alert system so that they can be reached by other means.

Registered users will also be given the choice to sign up for "general notifications," which will alert them to non-emergency updates, such as information on parking bans and trash pick-up delays.

The Police Department is encouraging all city residents and business owners to register their telephone and cell phone numbers, as well as e-mail addresses with the new system.